vfrjim2002

Back in May I went on a 6 day trip and filled the vfr up with Rotella T6 for the first time without even putting test miles on the engine with it. Went through 5 states with varying temps and lots of gear shifting. Didn't use a drop of it. I was able to snatch up 8 jugs of it @ $14.99 a pop. That's a lot better than paying $26 retail. I plan on sending off the old oil for testing.

Anyone using a K&N oil filter on a gen 6 bike? What's the part number? Thanks

their website works great: kn-204

The 303 will fit as well and is about 3/4" longer. If longer length == more media, that's may be worth a shot.

I've used those and Mobil 1 M-110s along with a couple of Purolators. My wife's Maxima (VQ-35) uses the same filter and oil (RTS - T6).

I'm waiting for Tightwad to come up with an rig that will tap into the speed sensor and turn the fan off when road speed gets above 15-20 mph.

The stock blades are much more efficient when stopped or at such slow speeds that the naturally incoming air from the foreward movement of the bike doesn't overwhelm the force of the fan. Considerably more efficient. Apparently this has something to do with it being more effective to pull a load than to push it, against some resistence like friction (in this case the radiator fins).

I think what you're seeing is due to the temperature of the air being forced over the radiator not whether that air is pushed or pulled. In stock configuration the fan pulls cool (relatively speaking) air from outside over the radiator and exhausts it into the engine compartment. The VTR reverses the direction of airflow, forcing superheated air from inside the engine compartment through the radiator. The delta T between engine compartment air and the radiator is much narrower than that between outside air and the radiator. Therefore, the VTR arrangement results in less heat transfered from the water to the air and less efficient cooling than the stock set up. I suspect that's exactly the reason the engineers designed it as they did.

Once you're rolling all this changes. Now you have a supply of cooler air being introduced from the front and the fan is an active impediment to that air getting through the left radiator and while at the same time the fan is unable to draw air from the outside. The right radiator is unaffected, so the engine's still able to shed heat, but not enough because you've lost 40 to 50% of your cooling capacity. Some time back, some folks had success with a manual override to turn on the fan and also turn it OFF in exactly the situation we're talking about.

I've run Phillips Vision Plus (IIRC) in the stock wattages. for the last 25,000 miles and have no complaints.

I have run higher wattages in the past and can attest to two things:

- they run substantially hotter (I ran them in in a single head light set up in a metal shell/reflector.

- they REQUIRE higher rated relays and heavier wireing. I used 12 ga.

You might want to look at auxiliary lights instead.

good info

I'm with everything Rob says, with one small exception: If you're interested in changing brake feel juggling mc to slave ratios is a good way to do it. If you the brakes are too sensitive you can move to a mc with a larger piston or a different lever leverage ratio. By the same token, if you want more sensitive (in a sense more powerful) brakes you can use a MC with smaller bore.

Another solution is something like this.

http://www.strobesnm...-super-led.html

It has 3 one watt leds in a weather proof housing with a built in flasher that lets you select between a half dozen flash patterns and retails for right at $40.

It is BRIGHT.

I have one on my KLR commuter/DS and have ordered another for the viffer to replace my hyperlights.

The video on the web site gives you a pretty good indication of the what it does. My only qualification is the vid doesn't get across just hpw bright the thing is.

Jim

disclaimer: I have NO financial or personal interest in the vendor.

What if I used a vacuum switch set real high, like 22+ inches, to make the brake light come on when you're under heavy braking? How about maybe just lighting 1 of the 2 bulbs? Would there be any thing wrong with doing this?

How heavily does your engine brake? I suppose you could do this, but it might be easier to just lightly touch the front lever, no?

Very impressive work there Roy. The bike looks great. I've always harbored latent desires to do something like this and always talk myself out of it. (Almost certainly will do so again :pissed: ) Regardless, if you don't mind expanding a little, how did you set up the front wheel? I'm assuming you used an R1 unit, did you encounter any issues with spacing and the like and what did it take to get that sorted?

thanks.

So does anybody send in used oil samples to a lab for analysis?

I guess I'm a bit on the lazy side because I opted for the Mobil1 just so I wouldn't have to change the oil as often.

I keep saying I'm going to stock up on the Blackstone kits, but never follow through. The story of my life. :unsure:

As to the change intervals, as little as riding as I've gotten done in the last year or so, I've been running out the clock on the oil before I hit the mileage limits.

and have always come home to RTS.

I'm quite happy with the stuff.

Can I assume RTS= Rotella T Syn?

:thumbsup:

You betcha. :thumbsup:

I'm a long time Mobil 1 advocate and it has always tested at or new the top of every category, but I recently made the switch to

Shell Rotella T Synthetic based on it's test results(always right up there with MB 1) and lower cost the MB 1 also one of the few "C" rated oils out there which seem to be good for our bikes.

My MB Diesel, track bike and VFR all have Rotella T Synthetic in them! :thumbsup:

I always advise caution when a customer ask about Shell's Rotella T... since diesels engines live

at the slow end of the rpm scale I'm not sure that the additive package is suited for rigors of an

high revving motorcycle engine... I'm speaking of the anti foaming additives that are important to

us due to the high RPMs that can cause cavitation which will starve bearings from necessary

lubrication... In order to hold cost to a minimum Shell's chemical engineer only adds what is

necessary and anti foaming additives are not important in a slow turning diesel...

Well the Shell Rotella T syn. also exceeds all API "S"requirements asked for by Honda(SF/SG) and meets every level except the newest SM standards and also has the highest API C ratings with a CI-4 Plus rating. I could be wrong, but I can't see where this oil is lacking anywhere except in additive pkgs that prolongs CAT life.

I'm learning! :thumbsup:

One of the ironies in Larry's argument is that ScootR's impressive research was based entirely on diesel engines. I never was quite sure what to make of it in a world where engines that spin 5 times as fast.

Personally, I've run several oils in the VFR and my 4 wheeled fleet and have always come home to RTS. In the bike I've run both grades of M1 bike oil, M1 red cap, M1 gold cap, Delvac 1, M1 Truck and SUV, and GN4 (for the first 50 miles) and based on engine temps, shifting smoothness (over time), engine/trans noise, and engine hygene RTS has seemed to be the best package. I've seen a few UOAs out of other bikes (no VFRs and I've not done one myself but probably should) that suggest it may not be wise to run it much beyond 4k miles in a bike, but I tend to change at 3,500 to 4,000 anyway so no biggie.

The cage story is similar. My wife's Maxima seems to love the stuff. At 70k miles I took a shot at using that trick German Castrol stuff. I was adding about a half quart per 3.5k OCI. Went back to RTS. Zero consumption over a 4k to 4.5k OCI and it seems to run a bit quieter.

My old Integra loved the stuff. 90k miles on M1 red cap had left a very light film of varnish under the valve cover. 20k on RTS cleaned that off. When the car died at 170k miles at the hands of a certain unlicensed, uninsured redlight runner a kid bought the engine and stuffed it in a CRX and it's still (ticking) scratch that, purring would be better. It didn't run at vfr revs but it spent a lot of it's life between 5 and 7k.

I'm quite happy with the stuff.

Just need to paint the frame, swingarm, fork legs, and get a dark smoke windscreen...

This?

That's a chop I did way back there. I don't think I'll ever get to paint the frame either. Once you paint the frame then you'll have to paint the valve covers and head that shows too.

All you need to do then is paint those two pie plates hanging off the front wheel and the single on the back and you'll be invisible.

Sounds like a deal Jason. Did he give you a graph of the results. I'm really curious to see what the two curves look like.

EDIT: Read the whole thread. :music:

Damn. I am terribly sorry to hear this. You've been a great asset to this community and you and the bike deserved much better. My best wishes in whatever path you take from here on. As to your next choice of ride - don't discount the KLR because of its lack of ABS. I've ridden one for years and the front brake is so weak it's almost like ABS.

Good luck and don't be a stranger.

jim

spring rate = 40.79 lb/in or 73 kg/mm

now with N = 20 coils after compressing the spring 20mm (all 6 of the short coils binded)

spring rate = 53.03 lb/in or .95 kb/mm after 20mm of spring compression!

the attacment file in the first post is the updated excell worksheet with the above formula

HS,

This would seem to suggest that if you remove all the close wound (low rate) coils, you wind up with exactly what RaceTech should have sold you, a .95kg/mm straight rate spring. If you do that and add the length of the low rate section to your current preload spacer, wouldn't that put you pretty close to spring nirvana?

Perhaps not, it seems too simple.

HS,

Do you by any chance recall the specific part # of the pegs you used. On my last visit to their site, LP did not list the viffer (just about everything else). What bike cross references with the VFR?

tia,

jim

Thanks Randal. BTW, how do you bleed the "supply" line to the secondary M/C?

jim

Randal,

Is my impression that your setup omits the rear M/C activation of the front caliper? I don't see that hose.

I'd love to do a variation on this to my '02, keeping the (front) secondary activation of the rear, but completely eliminating the rear application of the front. The problem is the line from the PCV to the front makes a stop at the seconday MC and (apparently) serves as its fluid reservoir. This line has a double inlet banjo and, I presume will need to be replaced.

Does your generation of LBS have this line and, if so what did you do with it?  I think I see another braided line in the background of your left side images, but can't tell what it does.

thanks,